Taunting you, taunting me
by Blaquediamond Princess
Summary: We all live dubble lives, everyone has a secret to keep. For Lenne, Yuna, Rikku and Paine it's no different. When someone comes to interfere in their usual habits, it's bound to have serious repercussions on their lives, and everything they keep dear...AU
1. Fusion

Hello everyone, it's Blackdiamond Princess here! Yes, I know. My previous account has been deleted from this site and with it all of my stories, so I'm going to play it safe with this new account. **All lemons featured in this story will be cut out from this site, but posted on the other sites thatare hosting this story. For the links to them and my other works, please check my bio. Unfinished stories that previously got published will continue to get updated but unfortunately not on this site.**

_Ps:Thank you once again, TheCiz, for beta-reading this chapter!_

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**_ONE: Fusion

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The moon was shining just right, no clouds, no stars. No restrictions, no obligations...

It was the perfect night.

Two leather clad figures jumped off the main roof of the Zanarkadian Museum of Spiran History. The only sound heard as they landed on the second roof was that of two pair of high heels tapping on stone. One of them stood up right and looked around her, checking for potential trouble. The other crunched next to the window of the roof.

"We have ten minutes to get in. Emerald, you receive me?"

Tapping on her ear receptor, she looked at her partner, waiting for instructions.

"Roger, Amber. You guys got 30 seconds before the guard comes to check up. The sphere is right underneath the window… but it's going to be a tricky one." Emerald answered from an apartment a block away from the museum. "But those infrared lenses Ruby gave you should be enough."

"Roger." Amber whispered, nodding towards her partner. "Let's go."

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Making his last round of the night, a museum guard paid extra attention to the alarm system surrounding their newest acquisition: The Sphere of Betia. It was laid on a pedestal and in the first place protected by a metal box foreseen of small glass windows on each of the six surfaces so people could look at it. The metal cube was an alarm system on its own. A magnetic system was relied to it so that any metallic object, like say a glass perforator, in a six meter range made the alarm go off.

Before the thief got to the actual box, he still had the invisible alarm system to pass. This was a complicated maze of infrared laser beams. After the beams, if they were to fail, was the temperature controller. The room was kept at a constant temperature of 36 °C any change with a range above the 2°C would cause the immediate closure of all exit routes: the window in the ceiling, the five entrances and the four windows around the object. A steal blind would cover every one of them.

Smiling to himself at the very thought of someone being stupid enough to try and steal the sphere, the guard turned himself around and finished his round, whistling merrily to himself.

Just above him, outside the ceiling window, were two mismatched eyes closely watching him.

"Be sure to be in and out in less than 2 minutes, so the temperature sensor doesn't go off, Sapphire." Emerald said in her ear. "I will guide you all the way."

"Go bring the beauty in, sis." Amber whispered, winking.

"This is going to be fun." Sapphire whispered, smiling back. "I love the challenge. I'm ready, Emerald."

Amber opened the small window and watched as her sister prepared herself to make a 10 meter fall. "Make sure everything is in place."

"Don't worry." Sapphire said back with a grin, "You know how much I love this!"

"I know, that's why we can't risk you neglecting anything. Azure will pay us good money for this one; I don't want to take any risks."

Sapphire just checked her equipment again while sighing. She knew her sister was right though, even if it wasn't really for the money that they did it. At least she personally didn't. It was just for the kick of it.

"Emerald, I'm going in." She said with one hand on her ear receptor and winking towards Amber.

"Good luck." She mouthed.

"Let's see if my four years of ballet will prove me to be of any good for this one." Sapphire grinned, jumping inside.

* * *

"And then he came to me and asked me, with his teeth as yellow as ripe corn; 'Hey baby, see something you like?' Guess what he did next? He smiled at me in his, I suppose, most seductive way… I'm telling you, I'm never going to that club again!" 

The small group of girls on the terrace in front of a café in Zanarkand laughed heartily. They were all there; the sisters DeLucci, Yuna and Lenne, their cousin; Rikku Taddeo and their friend; Paine Fucci.

"To me all men are the same. They're only after one thing and after that you might as well take a dog if you want attention." Lenne said, taking a sip of her coffee and crossing her legs underneath the table. "You simply can't trust them. I told you not to go to that club, Yu, but did you listen?"

Rikku smiled, "But surely there must be some good guys left in this city good enough for us?" She said, raising her shoulders innocently.

Yuna was pouting, "You're only saying that because you already found your future husband!"

"But did you really think you'd find yours in that club?" Paine smirked, taking a sip of her espresso. "Shows how desperate you really are."

The brunette groaned, "It does, doesn't it?"

"Let's face it sis, you desperately need to get laid." Lenne chuckled, throwing her long brown hair back and reaching beside her seat for her purse. "Love is so overrated."

Yuna just looked at her older sister and felt bad for her; it was no wonder that she was sounding so bitter. She just broke up with her fiancée… caught him cheating with one of her secretaries at work. "Don't give up on love, Lennie…"

Lenne shook her head and waved her away with an irritated look on her face as she searched through her purse for her portable. "Your oh so precious 'love' has caused me enough of problems and I seriously doubt that I ever want to rely on it again." She took out the device and dialled the number of her office. "DeLucci here, I'll be there in 45 minutes. If Fabian arrives, tell him to wait for me in the lobby." She hung up and finished her coffee. "It was nice having lunch with you, girls." She stood up and bent over to hug her friends. "I need to get back to work; I got a big deal to seal."

"With Fabian? As in Seymour Fabian?" Rikku said, raising a sceptic eyebrow.

"I thought you hated that guy." Paine said, cocking her head to the side.

"Wait… your ex-husband, Seymour?" Yuna asked, sipping from her iced tea.

Lenne sighed and took her car keys out of her purse before swinging it around her shoulder, "As much as I hate the guy, I need to get on good terms with him because he will soon be my associate. Our companies are about to fuse with each other."

"What!" Yuna said, raising her eyebrows in pure astonishment, "But DeLucci Inc. is an Auction/Antiques Company. Fabian is a jeweller! I don't see why you would want to work with him."

"Hum," Paine said, squinting, "Diamonds are a woman's best friend."

Lenne said nothing but just smiled. "I really need to go. Ask Lorenzo to look at those ancient runes that came in this morning, Yu. I don't know when, but I'll be at the Lounge tonight, so don't wait up for me girls. Ciao."

After they had watched her black Land Rover disappear into the traffic, Rikku turned her head to her right side to look at Paine with a questioning expression. "What did you mean with 'Diamonds are a woman's best friend'?"

Paine just lay back in her chair, "It just all doesn't feel right, that's all. I have a bad feeling about it."

Yuna shook her head, "Okay, they don't like each other, but that's no reason to get all suspicious, Paine. And I think that Lenne wouldn't have got accepted to fuse if she had had her doubts about it. I mean, she wouldn't deliberately lead the company into danger now would she? She knows what she's doing. And besides, just because she doesn't like him, doesn't give us a reason to not like him too." She could feel the icy glares of her friends piercing through her, "I mean, he is not that bad-looking…" she said then, smiling shyly and looking into her glass of tea.

Rikku raised an eyebrow, "I will just pretend to not have heard that… seriously, Yu." She whispered and rolled her eyes.

Paine just shook her head and said nothing.

"Fabian has an internationally renowned company and he has enough money to buy half of the globe! I really wonder why he wanted to fuse with DeLucci Inc. It's not like he needs it. And Lenne wouldn't have got accepted if there hadn't been something there for the company, I mean, the fusion will give DeLucci good publicity." The blonde pondered, trying to figure out the motives for Lenne's decision concerning the company.

"It's the Companies who are fusing, NOT Lenne and Seymour -again- right? It's important to separate business from private life." Yuna wisely said, pointing with one finger in the air.

"Maybe…" Paine whispered, deep in thought, "I just hope she knows how to deal with Fabian. He is no good, I can tell."

"Yeah, the tabloids don't really praise him…" Rikku said nodding, "But his business is really good. They earn a little bit over the 250 million each year and he seems be the…"

"Argh… enough already, are we going to grow old bones here or are we still going shopping?" Yuna said standing up. The two other girls soon followed her lead. "I'm telling you," she then whispered in a low tone, "Amber knows exactly what she is doing. Just wait until Azure finds out."

The three girls nodded and took their belongings to exit the café.

* * *

"Mister Fabian, I apologize for being late. I hope it wasn't a long wait?" 

Lenne walked up to the tall, blue haired man with the stunning grey eyes and held out her hand. He smiled and shook it briefly.

"Not at all, Miss DeLucci. I arrived merrily 2 minutes before you. Shall we seal the contract? I have an agenda full of rendezvous for this afternoon, so if you don't mind." He smiled again at her and she felt the urge knock his teeth out. If it wasn't for all the benefits her company would receive with the fusion… _That sick bastard._

"Of course." She said, nodding and smiling, "Let's go into my office." She led the way to the grand wooden doors at the end of the lobby and could feel his eyes undressing her from the back. She shivered internally and took a deep breath as she opened her doors.

"I see you have a splendid view of Zanarkand City from up here. But as my partner you will see more of scenery like this… I'm really looking forward to working with you... in a professional way."

He was standing in front of the large windows surrounding the round office, admiring the view from the 45th floor with his hands in his pockets.

"We are all looking forward to working with your company as well." Lenne said, taking the documents from the upper drawer of her desk. "You are a renowned businessman, Mister Fabian, and we are a nationally well-known company. I hope that our joining will mean the start of a long-term, professional co-operation."

She displayed the documents on her desk and took a pen out of the pen-holder and laid it beside the papers to sign.

He chuckled and took his hands out of his pockets and walked over to her desk. "There is no need to give me that much praise, Miss DeLucci. You are one of the most talented businesswomen in your category." He stopped in front of her, close enough for her to see three diamonds in his left ear. "But I'm sure that a beautiful woman as you has a large range of expertise…"

Lenne averted her gaze and walked around him, "Let's get this over with and keep it PROFESSIONAL, shall we?" she said, taking seat in her leather chair.

A small smirk formed itself on his lips, but it went unnoticed by the brunette. "Where do I sign?"

"Here, here… and here." She pointed at the spots foreseen for this and watched him swiftly sign in a rather curly handwriting. He then looked up at her when he finished and seemed to enjoy the fact that she had been staring at him. Lenne gulped and took the pen he was offering her.

"There. Now it's your turn."

She quickly signed the forms and placed them back into the drawer. "That's handled. I think that tomorrow we will go make it official?"

"Yes, at my office with the people of the assurance, registrars and others…" He whispered, still standing in front of her.

Lenne nodded and wished that he would just stop staring at her. _It's for the company… for the company…_ "Good. Then I will see you tomorrow. Still at 8 o'clock?"

"Precisely." He said, smiling that sly smile again. Seymour then rested both of his hands on her desk so he could lean in a little. "Miss DeLucci.?"

"Yes?" Lenne said, crossing her legs in her chair and leaning back, "Was there something else you wanted to discuss with me, Mister Fabian?"

He waved a hand and shook his head, "Please, Seymour. Call me Seymour, Lenne. We are business partners now, no need to be so formal."

The way he just said that made her feel filthy, but she just clenched her teeth and smiled, "Alright, Seymour, I shall return the favour then. Was there something?"

"Yes. I was thinking to go celebrate this fusion with a dinner." He said nonchalantly, "Tonight."

"Oh, well…" She was taken off guard, but quickly took her agenda to check her appointments for the rest of the day hoping to find an important meeting she could go to. "I have a staff meeting at 5 o'clock and I don't know when it will end." She said apologetically, putting the small black book away.

"I shall wait for you at 7.30 in "La Godiva". Don't be late, so we can talk about the future of our joined companies." He said, smiling again. His eyes had a mocking glow in them and she could feel a searing anger taking hold of her.

Without another word he turned around and left her office.

She pushed herself away from her desk with anger and stood up, putting a hand on her forehead to calm herself.

"That's so typically him… unnerving me when he knows that I have no choice… If I didn't need him that much for the survival of my company… God, how I hate him."

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_To be continued..._

**_-Diamant Noir-_**


	2. Friction

I'm just going to post all my previous posted chapters all at once... so those of you who never read this story before are getting spoiled! Hehehe... do enjoy. While it last...

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TWO : Friction

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TWO : Friction 

A largefolder fell with a loud smack on his desk.

"Here's another one, Mister G."

He turned his head with a hint of aggravation on his face as he saw what was written on it.

"Thanks, Pacce…You got to be kidding me! Another!"

"Hey Tidus, my bro, Auron asks for us in his office."

He looked at his redheaded partner and sighed, while holding the document holder up, "I bet ya, it's about this!"

"Another robbery? What was it this time?" He walked in and took the holder out of his colleague's hand. "Oh damn…"

Tidus looked up at his friend for a brief moment before turning his eyes back to his paper work, "What is it, Wakka? What did they take this time?" he said, annoyed and not looking up.

"The Sphere of Betia." Was all Wakka said, throwing the documents on his partner's desk and running a hand through his hair. "That can only mean one thing, man."

Tidus had stopped in all of his actions and was looking at him with a smile on his face. "They're back." He whispered and reached for his jacket behind him.

Wakka nodded and then followed him to the door, "You think Auron will give us the case?"

"He has to!" Tidus responded, rounding the corner to the chief's office. "He has to give us another chance." He opened the door, finding Auron standing inside, "We want that case, sir."

The elder man was facing away from them, bent over his desk, apparently looking at some documents scattered on it. "I know and that's why I'll give you the chance." He said in his smoky voice. "This is a large and if not properly taken care of, an absolute media magnet. Useless to say that we don't want that. I trust you guys."

Tidus and Wakka smiled to each other in victory and were about to leave the office.

"But I'm warning you. If you mess this one up too, I will have to give it to the feds and you'll both be degraded to mere officers, you got me? I have sincerely had enough of you two fucking around all the time, so you better solve this case and fast. I trust you on this one because you two have had the most experience on these kinds of robberies and I expect that you'll both use your brains this time and get us the answers we've been searching for over the past 2 years."

Tidus glared to the floor and clenched his jaws together. "How much time do we get?"

"The FBI has agreed to give us 7 days. After that they take over." Auron said, turning around to finally look at the two young men. "Consider that as an extremely large act of confidence towards you. Do not fuck it up, or I'll have your scrawny asses." And with that he turned himself around again, without giving the two another look.

* * *

"You know every time I got to see what they've had to do to get to what they wanted I've always been baffled. Baffled of their level of ingenious. Now it's almost like you're looking at a work of art." 

Tidus rolled his eyes at the words of his partner and continued to investigate the crime scene.

"Do you always have to think so much on things, Wakka? It's a robbery, there's nothing artistic about it. It's a crime. Point." He said in an exasperated tone. He actually wanted to get this part of the job over with as fast as he could because he had always hated doing it. And the fact that his job depended on this one didn't help his mood either.

"Look." The redhead pointed at the window above of them in the large exposition room, "They came down from the window that I get. But what I don't get is how they didn't even touch the infrared laser beams, even if they had the necessary equipment. It's a very complex maze!"

"They didn't switch the alarm off, so we can already conclude that this person is very agile." Tidus said, bringing his head back on a normal level to look at the perforated glass box which contained the metal cube that once contained The Sphere of Betia.

"What did they use to perforate those two cubes?" Wakka wondered, taking a closer look of the evidence. "Two identical circles."

"If metal causes the alarm to go off…" Tidus thoughtfully whispered, tilting his head to the side and moving closer to the outer box and putting his investigation gloves on. "What matter is strong enough to pierce through any metal without inflicting damage upon itself?"

"Diamond. They used a diamond perforator?" Wakka whispered.

Tidus pursed his lips and squinted his eyes, " They need to be taken to the lab." He took off his gloves, got out of the room and walked to the building's exit. "We're done here."

"Well, well… if it isn't Giovanni and his little helper."

Tidus had just pushed the revolving glass doors to exit the museum, when a blonde headed man came in on his right side. His face grew rigid and he glared at the other blonde while he re-entered the building.

"What are you doing here, Malucci?" He demanded, keeping his voice as calm as possible, "You feds aren't supposed to be here. We're on it."

Malucci just smiled, "And that is a very comforting thought, is it?" He put one of his hands in his pocket and raised the other to run it through his thick golden locks. "I'm just here to visit. Don't worry. I'm not planning on taking over your case. Again." He laughed and turned himself around, walking up the large stairs to the first floor.

"Are you sure you're related to that bastard?" Wakka said next to Tidus' ear, watching Malucci turning left and entering an exposition room. Tidus sighed and turned himself around, not wanting to be here no more. He felt humiliated and angry, but most of all he felt hurt. He and his half-brother had always gotten along just well, until he had made that one critical mistake that had changed his entire life. Because of him Shuyin had lost the love of his life, Ella, in a cross fire. She had been a hostage of a bank hold up three years ago, and Shuyin had been the one who had been assigned to do the negotiations. When Ella came out as first hostage, clad in terrorist gear so the terrorists wouldn't recognise her, Tidus had been the first one to shoot her. He hadn't taken the time to open his radio and wait for the instructions and opened fire immediately, causing all other officers and FBI-agents to start emptying their load in the confusion…

Shuyin never forgave him. They had never talked about the incident, let alone just talked to each other after that. Malucci just made sure that Tidus saw what his negligence afflicted on others with every case he had had to take from him.

"I'm sure he wished he wasn't…" Tidus whispered ruefully and walked back to the revolving doors with his hands deep in his pockets. "Come on let's go, okay?"

Wakka watched him making his way through the doors and shook his head sadly. "This has really gone on long enough…" He glanced up the stairs and then turned his head back to see Tidus descending the stairs in front of the building and walking to their car. "Someone has to start talking… and if they're not up to it…"

He ran up the stairs.

* * *

"One Bailey's, please." 

Taking a seat at the bar, Tidus sighed heavily and tried to forget his day at work. Nothing seemed to change, or it didn't change fast enough. When would they all see that he had learnt from his past mistakes? When would they stop treating him like he wasn't capable of anything?

He watched the creamy substance in his glass for a few seconds then took a sip and closed his eyes again. But he would show them. He would solve this case and prove to them once and for all that he didn't do those criminology studies just to get the shiny badge. He took a larger sip of his liquor and winced at the strong alcoholic taste.

"You should put ice in that. Tastes much better." A voice next to him said.

"Maybe, but it deludes the alcoholic taste too much." Tidus responded and turned his head to find himself looking at his half-brother. "Thought you wanted to avoid me as much as you could." He whispered, looking back ahead of him and taking another sip.

"I still do." Shuyin answered, ordering a Piña Colada, "But I thought that maybe we should talk."

"About what?" Tidus asked, putting his drink down. "You made yourself very clear the last time."

"Look, Ty…"

Tidus shook his head, "Don't give me that shit, okay? You had every right to be angry with me, to even ignore me and disrespect me like you did, but don't you think you stretched it out for too long?" He chuckled in melancholy and raised his glass again, "If you want to apologise it's too late. I've had enough." He poured the rest of his drink in and ordered another.

"I want to help." Shuyin whispered, looking at his brother with a worried gaze. "I want to help you on the case."

"I don't need your help." Was the quick reply.

"Yes you do."

"Since when?"

"Since we found out that Fabian maybe had something to do with it." He said, locking his eyes with Tidus' who had just wanted to grab his new drink and now stared at him wide eyed. He narrowed them after a moment.

"Why should I believe you?" Tidus asked, returning his attention to his drink.

"Because." Was all Shuyin said, starting to get unnerved, "I'm your brother."

"Ha!" Tidus sarcastically exclaimed, "For three whole years I didn't mean a thing to you, and now you want me to just forget it all? No."

"If you weren't so stupid, you'd take the chance I'm offering you right now and safe your career." The other blonde said from between his teeth. He then sighed, "Tidus look, I want us to leave the incident of three years ago behind us, I…"

"I wanted to, but you didn't!" Tidus started arguing. "How many times did I tell you that I was sorry? How many times did I offer my apologies? But it was never enough!"

Shuyin had left his head hang, "What do you want me to do now? What do you want me to say to prove to you that I'm sorry? I'm your older brother and look how I acted. I shouldn't have, I know that you made a mistake and that I should've gotten over it… but I didn't want to. I was so angry, I felt so betrayed and so lost…"

Tidus just stared gruffly ahead of him and refused to look at him.

"There is no acceptable explanation for what I did, but I want to try." He bravely continued, "I can only try if I want us to be like we were before. I lost Elle, but I don't want to loose my brother too. I want to help you on your case if that's what it takes to bring us back together. Oh god, that sounded so corny…" He could feel the lump in his throat loosen itself a little as he saw a hint of a smile on his younger brother's lips. "I'm sorry, Ty. Please forgive me."

"Oh stop embarrassing yourself." Tidus grumpily said, while smiling and hiding his face under his one hand, "Tell me more about what Fabian has to do with the robberies."

Shuyin laughed and threw one arm over his brother's shoulder, "I think I'll try this act on women, since it seems to be working on you…"

"Stop messing with me, Malucci." Tidus whispered, still grinning and sipping his drink. "If it wasn't such a bad act, I would've got let you kiss my feet."

"But you still would've got forgiven me, you wuss."

"Just to make you stop whining, twerp."

They laughed together and finished their drinks.

* * *

"So what did he want?"Lenne rolled her eyes and took a seat next to her friends on the couch in a corner of the lounge club. "The perv just kept babbling on and on about the benefices and about all the important meetings we'd be attending to and the long-term consequences of our alliance." 

Rikku took her Long Island and sat back in a comfortable position and watched her friend let herself fall on the empty spot next to her. "Let's just hope that your professional 'friendship' lasts."

Paine kept looking at Lenne attentively, "It won't be easy if their personal friendship is as much as inexistent. Lenne."

Lenne had been resting her head on her younger sister's shoulder, "I know, but I can't do it in another way. Urgh, I need a drink."

Yuna gazed over at Paine briefly and sighed. She didn't know why, but she felt herself attracted by this Fabian…"Why didn't you just not go, Lenne?" she asked, resting her head on top of her sister's. "Why didn't you tell him off?"

Lenne grunted, "You don't know him, Yuna." She sat up and ordered a Vodka Martini from a passing waitress. "He never takes a no for answer. And besides, I couldn't afford myself to do so, what kind of an impression would that have got made on my future partner?"

Riku sighed and smiled, "Why don't we change the subject, huh? This is kind of a depressing one…"

"What about those two guys over there? Yuna? Lenne?" Paine suggested, smiling above her drink and pointing at the object of sudden attention. "What do you think?"

"Argh, no, Paine. The mere thought of a creature controlled by the limp object in between it's legs makes me puke." Lenne spat, taking a large sip of her Vodka Martini and then fishing the olive out and putting it in her mouth. "I need another one of these." And she raised her glass at a passing waiter indicating that she wanted another.

"Wow, they're hot!" Rikku exclaimed, sitting up a little to have a better look, "Are they twins?"

"Don't you have your affectional future husband waiting at home for you?" Paine said teasingly. Her smile quickly turned itself into a frown as she saw Lenne receive another Vodka Martini and empty her glass in record time.

"Hey you can't blame a girl for admiring…" Rikku dreamily whispered.

"Admiring perfectly shaped buttocks…" Yuna added hungrily, " I don't mind keeping them both to myself."

"It's double trouble if you ask me." Lenne giggled, obviously starting to get dunk and starting her third glass.

"Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home, Missy." Paine stood up and grabbed Lenne by her right wrist, "Party is over. You got a meeting at 8 o'clock tomorrow."

"Yes… that's true… but I don't want to go…" Lenne whispered, standing up with the help of her friend. "I don't want to go, Paine."

"If we don't go, we'll have all of these gorgeous men coming after us and we don't want that now, don't we?" Paine whispered, helping her to the exit.

"Yuck, no we don't." She faintly whispered, "I'm so tired."

"You guys, I'm taking her home, Yuna need a ride?" Paine said, looking back at her friends.

"No it's okay. I want to admire the view a little more." Yuna whispered still looking at the two ignorant guys at the bar.

"Be careful." Rikku said, waving them goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow." And with that they both left.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Rikku whispered after a while. "Go talk to them, they look pretty decent to me."

"You think so?" Yuna asked, arranging her skirt and top. "How do I look?"

"Desperate." Rikku decided then broke into a laugh at her friend's worried look, "No you look hot, girl."

"Okay, wish me luck."

"May the power of the Manolo Blahniks be with you!"

Yuna laughed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she stood up.

* * *

"Oh… Gorgeous babe at 3 o'clock."

Shuyin pushed his brother slightly with his elbow. Tidus watched her approach from the corner of his eye while he pretended to drink. As she took place next to him at the bar, he felt another elbow push from his brother.

"Offer her something, you moron." He whispered.

Tidus swallowed a little and then turned himself around to face her with a huge grin on his face. He didn't know why he started to show his teeth like that, but he immediately knew that he looked like a complete retard. And that was confirmed by the fact that she got startled as she looked up at him.

"Oh! Eh… hi." She said, timidly.

He could hear Shuyin slap himself on his forehead and he stopped grinning. "Hi. Hello." He said and he wanted to slap himself.

"Hi." She said again, averting her gaze a little.

"I'm Tidus." He quickly said, feeling unbelievably clumsy.

"Yuna." She said and held out her hand.

"Beautiful name." He whispered, taking her hand in his. It was soft and manicured and he didn't realise that he was holding it longer than needed. "Eh sorry." He apologised and wiped his hand off his pants. He saw her looking at his hand and then at hers in a questioning manner before he realised what he had just did. "Oh! No, no… it's just that…that… I get sweaty hands when I'm around beautiful girls like you…"

"Smooth…" Shuyin whispered behind him.

"So you mean to say that you meet a lot of beautiful girls?" Yuna asked, testing him.

Tidus smiled, "I don't get sweaty hands often, but when I do it's kind of exceptional."

"What do you mean?" She asked tilting her head to the side. She was starting to think he was cute.

"Really beautiful girls are hard to find these days… when one presents herself it's exceptional. It's…special." He whispered, looking at the way her lips opened and closed themselves as she listened to him. "And I think you're beautiful."

Yuna smiled, flattered. Maybe this guy could be labelled as more than 'cute' or 'hot'.

Maybe he could be more. But it was still maybe.

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**Don't forget to feed the 'review'-button... feedback is very much appreciated...**

_To be continued…  
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_**-Diamant Noir-**_


	3. Prostration

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THREE__ : Prostration

* * *

_

The light in the small archives room lit up as he touched the switch near the doorframe. Looking around until he found the black-paper box he was searching for, he took it out of the ranks and read the name inscribed on it.

_"Fabian, Seymour."_

Squinting a little at the small amount of documents arranged into the box, he then put it down on the floor to look through the files.

"Only little schemes are on his record… All when he was an adolescent…There isn't much here that proves he could be behind a theft as big as that of the sphere… But what's this?"

As his eyes ran through a personal record of Fabian, he came across a name he recognised.

"_Married to Lenne DeLucci in 1998, divorced in 2002._"

He frowned, "DeLucci? As in DeLucci inc.?"

"Tidus, hey Tidus, you in there?"

He quickly put back all the documents inside the box, but held on to the one he had just looked into. "Yeah, in here Wakka," he then said, looking up to see his partner entering the room.

"When you asked me to find out what Fabian is up to nowadays, you didn't look into today's paper, did you?" Wakka said, smirking a little.

Tidus looked up from his reading and frowned, "No, why?"

"Well if you had," the redhead continued, producing a page of the 'Zanarkadian Prime' from behind his back, "you would have got seen the new headline." He held the page in front of him, letting it fall open on the front-page.

"**_GIANT IN JEWELRY FUSES WITH DELUCCI INC._**"

Tidus immediately took the page out of his colleague's hand and studied it.

"Guess he's trying to expand his business even more, huh? As if the rich bastard needs it." Wakka commented with a wry smile. "Why did you want to know about him anyway? I don't see how he can be related to those thefts…"

The blonde studied the picture of Fabian and DeLucci shaking hands before gazing up at his friend. "Malucci told me. I didn't believe him at first, but now that you've shown me this, I'm starting to believe that something is kind of off."

Wakka tilted his head to the side, "Something in his archives?"

"No, not really, but maybe a hint. Up until three years ago, Fabian and DeLucci were married. They split up."

"On what cause?"

Tidus gave him a compassionate look, "Extra marital affairs… it was DeLucci who asked the divorce…"

"Hmm. What a shame, she is so beautiful. Can't see why a man would want to cheat on that." Wakka regretfully whispered, taking the article back.

"Well, he looks gay to me anyway. I mean three diamonds in one ear?" Tidus said, pointing at Seymour on the picture.

Wakka snickered, "I didn't say anything man, but it's true that by knowing of their marriage, it makes this fusion look kind of strange."

Tidus nodded thoughtfully before glancing at his watch, "11.45." he then closed the document holder and walked passed his partner, "I'm going to have lunch with my brother. You can join me if you want."

"Then I take from that that everything is alright between the two of you?" the redhead nonchalantly asked.

"Yeah…" Tidus turned himself around and smiled while running a hand through his hair, "remember me to thank you for that, bro."

Wakka smiled back, following his partner to the exit. "If you're willing to pay for my lunch I will take that as a returned favor."

Rolling his eyes at that, the blonde investigator gestured for his friend to come along.

* * *

"It doesn't surprise me that you didn't find much in your archives." 

Shuyin took a sip of coffee before opening a document holder on the table, "We've been following Fabian ever since he started his company in 1995."

"Three years before he married DeLucci." Wakka commented, frowning and looking at his partner.

Tidus said nothing but just attentively kept looking at his brother. It seemed like he was thinking about something.

"Yes." The special agent confirmed, "I take from this that you've read this morning's paper, otherwise you wouldn't be mentioning her name."

"It doesn't make any sense." Tidus spoke, "Why would she want to fuse with her ex-husband's company?"

Wakka silently agreed but turned his gaze to Shuyin, "Didn't DeLucci inc. belong to her old man before?"

Shuyin nodded, "Yes it did. The man died in 2000 and his oldest daughter, Lenne, took over."

Tidus squinted, "Did DeLucci senior have any business relations with 'Fabian Jewelleries'?"

"He and Fabian were friends." Shuyin responded, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers with his elbows on the table. "When Fabian started his company, DeLucci was one of his main investors. They both had a passion for art, although they both choose a different aspect of it to make their career from. Fabian would often ask DeLucci's expertise on new obtained jewellery and DeLucci would often ask Fabian for advise when he wanted to buy art for his own personal collection. You could say that Fabian was like the son DeLucci never had."

Frowning thoughtfully, Tidus still didn't get it. "Even if her father had been best friends with her ex-husband, I still don't see why she would want to take a man that probably cheated on her as her business partner."

"She had no choice." Wakka suddenly whispered.

Tidus looked at his partner, "She got forced to do it?"

Shuyin took hold of his cup of coffee again and smirked, "Good thinking, Luciano," he sat back in his chair, "That's what we've been thinking too."

Wakka gave Tidus a questionning look before turning back to Shuyin, "If her father and Fabian were close friends and almost business partners, could it be that..."

"He put it in his will..." Tidus suddenly whispered, realising how it all really was, "But... why merge with DeLucci inc. only now? The man's been dead for five years?"

"We've had our theories about that." Shuyin slightly chuckled, putting his cup back down and intertwining his fingers, "But it was only when we looked at the business exchange rates of DeLucci's stocks that we understood why."

Both colleagues frowned in incomprehension.

"They've been dropping since the beginning of the semester," Shuyin spoke, "DeLucci inc. is in great potential financial danger."

"So you say that her old man gave permission to Fabian to come and help his daughter out if the company were to be in financial danger?" Wakka asked, his astonishment clearly resounding in his voice.

Shuyin gave a semi-nod, "We've only been speculating so far, but that's what it looks like."

"It surely explains a lot." Tidus thoughtfully said, "And shows how much the old man had faith in his daughter."

"It must've been a blow to her stomach, huh?" The redhead sympatheticly added.

Nodding understandingly, Tidus then faced his brother again, "Okay, so now tell us how Fabian can be related to the burglary of the sphere."

"First off, I do believe that we're talking about the same group of burglars who stole the Sacred Gem of Amenon in 2003, the Shadow Diamond and the Mysterious Glow this time around last year. I've read your notes, Tidus, and I agree that these three burglaries and the recent one all have similarities." Shuyin spoke, opening another document holder that had been lying underneath the first one.

"High grade of security for the objects, all four of them of an undefinable value and antique pieces of jewelery." Wakka said, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Yes. Every item was an antique." Shuyin spoke, facing him.

"Where does Fabian fit in this?" Tidus asked, growing impatient.

"As Wakka said, every item had an undefinable value and has never been put up for sale. However for the last antique, the Sphere of Betia, there had been an auction for."

"Right, I remember it was all over the news. But it was for the musea only." The other blonde said, frowning.

"And some companies too." Shuyin added, "Guess who went to bid too?"

"Fabian." Wakka intriguedly whispered, looking up from his cup of expresso, "But he didn't get the sphere, for it went to the Zanarkadian Museum of Spiran History."

"Yes, and according to the auctioneer doing the auction that day, he was pretty pissed."

Tidus gave his brother a sceptic look, "And just because he didn't get the sphere he decided to steal it?"

Shuyin chuckled, "It is known from him that he always gets what he puts his eye on. And I'm telling you, he wanted that sphere very badly."

"So you think he teamed up with the group of burglars to steal it?" Wakka questionned, squinting.

"You don't even have any evidence, only interpretations." Tidus exclaimed, shaking his head, "You have nothing to depart from."

"Oh, but I do," The special agent smirked and pointed at the picture of Fabian and DeLucci shaking hands in the 'Zanarkadian prime' displayed next to the many files on the table.

* * *

The mirror standing above her dresser shattered in million pieces as her left shoe made contact with it's reflection, sending the silver shatters all over the white carpet in front of her bed. 

"Such a failure…"

Her tired body fell down on the covers of her large bed and the tears she had been holding back for almost a year and a half threatened to rise up once again, but she oppressed them as she always did and took a deep breath.

"Oh, dad…" she whispered, staring blankly at her ceiling, "I can't work with him, he unnerves me to the point of utter madness…"

She could feel the lump in her throat tighten itself but she wouldn't give into it, "But I'm going to respect your wish… I know he's the only one who can help me." She sighed and sat up, kicking herright shoe off her foot and pulling her legs up to her body, "It's just the thought of what he did to me that is… I know he was your friend, but if only you'd known him like he really is…"

Her eyes moved up and saw the remains of her mirror on the wall, "To think that I really loved him… he's the one who made me who I am now…" her hands moved to her hair and she put them in a knot in the back of her neck and started to undress slowly. Once she was in her underwear, she then went to her bathroom where she stopped in front of the mirror above the sink.

With the back of her right hand she wiped off the purple lipstick, leaving an ugly sweep on her right cheek, "Unable to thrust myself with another man," she then rubbed her eyes with the tip of her fingertips, smearing out the make up she had applied there, "Resentful," her right hand opened the cold water crane and she cupped her hands to splash some of the icy liquid on her face before facing her reflection again, "And lonely…"

Wiping the droplets of water from her face with her hands before taking off her bra and panty, she knew that it wasn't only water she was wiping off her cheeks; she could taste the salty taste of tears on her lips.

In a sudden impulse of anger she passed with her fingers over her reflection violently in an attempt to hide it away from her gaze, "Fuck it!"

Sighing deeply and passing her hands over her face, she stepped into the shower and opened the warm water. No one could hear her cry there. Not even her dad.

* * *

"I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up." 

Ruby2 chuckled softly at the blonde sitting at the head of the table, leafing through a few files.

"I thought you had more faith in me than that, Azure," She answered back, patting his hair, "I needed some more groceries, I've put them in the lab so we can analyse that sphere. I didn't see Ruby1, where is she?"

"Ruby1 is waiting for you in the conference room." Azure spoke, still not looking up.

"I'm on my way." She said, lifting her hand to push the button next to the sliding door.

"Ruby2, wait up." The blonde man inquired, turning his chair around to look at her. His one eye holding a slight hint of concern.

"What's up?" Ruby2 asked, stepping back up to him.

"How's Amber?"

"A mess." She answered, sighing, "Even though she doesn't want to show it."

Azure nodded understandingly, "Ok. Don't tell her who our current employer is then. She might not be able to handle it."

Ruby2 frowned slightly, "Why not?"

"Ruby1 will explain it all to you and you will see it all for yourself since he is in video-conference with her at the moment that we're speaking." He turned himself back around, "Go now, she's waiting for you."

She nodded quickly and opened the door that led to a hallway that led to a red circular chamber. A grand circular table was standing in the middle of it, taking most of the space. Surrounding it where giant screens, adjusted to the curved walls, occupying the whole upper half of them.

As she stepped in, she saw the most central of them lit up and Ruby1 sitting in a red leathery chair in front of it.

"Ruby2?"

"Yes, it's me. So, where is he? Did I miss it already?"

The woman in the chair stood up slowly, her long black hair reaching to the small of her back. She was wearing a long black leather skirt with a long slit showing her high black heeled boots and a matching black leather shirt of which the top buttons were open, revealing the impressing cleavage she had.

"Did you bring the equipment?" She asked in her sultry voice while walking towards a switch that was located on the left of the central screen.

"In the lab."

"Good. Then we can begin." She pushed the switch and turned herself around to face the screen again as all lights started to fade out, "Start transmission."

_"Transmission starting.__ Incoming image."_

Suddenly the giant face of a man with blue hair and stunning grey eyes appeared on the screen.

"Miss Ruby, what a pleasant surprise." He said with an amenable smile on his handsome features.

Suppressing a gasp, Ruby2, just kept looking at the screen while moving herself into the shadows.

"Mister Fabian," Ruby1 smiled in response, "We are going to start our research on the sphere."

"Good, Miss Ruby. Keep me posted on the evolutions."

"Of course sir."

"Was there something else you needed to inform me of?"

"Not yet. But we wish you good luck with your fusion, Sir."

"Thank you, I'll make sure to send in the first cheque at the end of the week."

"Thank you, Sir."

"And may I add, Miss Ruby that you look very exquisite."

Ruby1 laughed briefly, "Good evening, Mister Fabian."

"Good evening."

_"End transmission."_

The lights went on again and Ruby1 turned herself around to face her colleague, "Now, shall we go check out that sphere?"

"You probably didn't know that Amber and Fabian used to be married?" Ruby2 spoke walking towards the exit, closely followed by the elder woman.

"Personal and professional affairs need to be separated. I see no problem, if that's what you're implying. Amber is a businesswoman, I think she knows this too. I consider her capable of handling her emotions." Ruby1 firmly spoke as they passed through the meeting room an on to the lab. She placed her hand on the scanner to access to the smaller room. The door opened and they stepped in.

"Azure told me to not tell her about Fabian. And I don't blame him. You haven't seen her lately. She's not acting like her normal self."

Ruby1 frowned slightly while putting on her white jacket and gloves, "Do you worry?"

The other girl sighed, "I must admit that I do. I don't see this turning out good." She put her own white jacket on and her gloves, "Fabian might be our employer, but he's Amber's business partner AND ex-husband. It's not a good combination."

Walking over to a switch at the left side of the room, Ruby1 sighed in comprehension, "I'll talk to her." She pushed in the switch and a glass box containing the shining Sphere of Betia came out of the centre of the square working table in the middle of the lab. She then walked back to the table and opened the glass box, taking out the sphere.

"According to my previous research, this sphere possesses incredible abilities. But I think I discovered a new one that no one has ever found out."

Ruby2 bend over the table to look more closely at the sphere, who seemed to be emitting a slightly pulsing golden light in the centre of it's purple depths, "I never saw it pulse before."

The elder woman chuckled briefly, "Put on your sunglasses and look."

She did as told and put on the glasses as Ruby1 closed both of her hands around the round object, pressing firmly before putting it back on the table. After a few moments bright light came out of the sphere, making it impossible to see for a few moments.

"It reacts to pressure." Ruby1 whispered after the light had disappeared and the sphere just lay there, with a faint pulsing light, "We're a kilometre under the ground and there is pressure, although we don't feel it because it is so faint. But the sphere does sense it and that's why it's pulsing. The more pressure, the brighter it will pulse."

"Okay, so why did you need the extra equipment?"

"You see this small piece of carbon?" the elder woman whispered, holding up the small piece between thumb and index finger, "I'm going to put it into this lead box here," she put it in small box next to the glass one, "And," she took the sphere back in her hands and pressed firmly, "Put this in it too. Cover it up."

After a few moments she opened up the box and took out the sphere first, "Check this out."

With her other hand she took out a shining gem in between her thumb and index finger. Ruby2 took the stone in her right hand and let it fall in the palm of her hand, realising what she was holding.

"A diamond?"

"Not a pure one, but it is a diamond." Ruby1 whispered, smiling, "I needed your equipment to make some more tests."

"Did Fabian know about this?"

"I think he had an idea, but I couldn't tell him without knowing for sure."

Raising an eyebrow while she kept looking at the stone in her hand, she understood why Fabian paid them good money for this job. And she didn't like it.

"Ruby2, we don't ask questions." She heard her colleague say and she looked up to look at her face, "We just do the job and they pay us."

Sighing inaudibly, she closed her fingers around the diamond and went to the microscope to check the characteristics.

From the moment that Fabian came into the picture she had felt that big trouble was on it's way and while looking at the stone under the lens, she felt that feeling multiply itself like the light reflections who dispersed themselves from the diamond.

* * *

_To be continued..._

**_-Diamant Noir-_**


End file.
